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Samuel Wilberforce
Rev. Samuel Wilberforce, FRS (7 September 1805 - 19 July 1873) was an English bishop in the Church of England. Life Wilberforce, was born at Clapham Common, London, the third son of anti-slavery crusader William Wilberforce.Britannica, 630. In 1823 he entered Oriel College, Oxford. In the “United Debating Society,” which afterwards developed into the “Union,” he distinguished himself as a zealous advocate of liberalism. The set of friends with whom he chiefly associated at Oxford were sometimes named, on account of their exceptionally decorous conduct, the “Bethel Union”; but he was by no means averse to amusements, and specially delighted in hurdle jumping and hunting. He graduated in 1826, taking a first class in mathematics and a second in classics. Early career After his marriage on 11 June 1828 to Emily Sargent, he was in December ordained and appointed curate-in-charge at Checkenden near Henley-on-Thames. In 1830 he was presented by Bishop Sumner of Winchester to the rectory of Brightstone in the Isle of Wight.In this comparatively retired sphere he soon found scope for that manifold activity which so prominently characterized his subsequent career. In 1831 he published a tract on tithes, “to correct the prejudices of the lower order of farmers,” and in the following year a collection of hymns for use in his parish, which had a large general circulation; a small volume of stories entitled the Note Book of a Country Clergyman; and a sermon, The Apostolical Ministry. At the close of 1837 he published the Letters and Journals of Henry Martyn. Although a High Churchman Wilberforce held aloof from the Oxford movement. In 1838 his divergence from the “Tract” writers became so marked that John Henry Newman declined further contributions from him to the British Critic, not deeming it advisable that they should longer “co-operate very closely.” In 1838 Wilberforce published, with his elder brother Robert, the Life of his father, and 2 years later his father's Correspondence. In 1839 he also published Eucharistca (from the old English divines), to which he wrote an introduction; Agathos, and other Sunday stories; and a volume of University Sermons, and in the following year Rocky Island, and other parables. In November 1839 he was installed archdeacon of Surrey, in August 1840 was collated canon of Winchester and in October he accepted the rectory of Alverstoke. In 1841 he was chosen Bampton Lecturer, and shortly afterwards made chaplain to Prince Albert, an appointment he owed to the impression produced by a speech at an anti-slavery meeting some months previously. In October 1843 he was appointed by the Archbishop of York to be sub-almoner to the queen. In 1844 appeared his History of the American Church. In March of the following year he accepted the deanery of Westminster, and in October the bishopric of Oxford. Bishop of Oxford The bishop in 1847 became involved in the Hampden controversy, and signed the remonstrance of the 13 bishops to Lord John Russell against Hampden's appointment to the bishopric of Hereford. He also endeavoured to obtain satisfactory assurances from Hampden; but, though unsuccessful in this, he withdrew from the suit against him. The publication of a papal bull in 1850 establishing a Roman hierarchy in England brought the High Church party, of whom Wilberforce was the most prominent member, into temporary disrepute. The secession to the Church of Rome of his brother-in-law, Archdeacon (afterwards Cardinal) Manning, and then of his brothers, as well as his only daughter and his son-in-law, Mr and Mrs J.H. Pye, brought him under further suspicion, and his revival of the powers of convocation lessened his influence at court; but his unfailing tact and wide sympathies, his marvellous energy in church organization, the magnetism of his personality, and his eloquence both on the platform and in the pulpit, gradually won for him recognition as without a rival on the episcopal bench. His diary reveals a tender and devout private life which has been overlooked by those who have only considered the versatile facility and persuasive expediency that marked the successful public career of the bishop, and earned him the sobriquet of “Soapy Sam.” In the House of Lords he took a prominent part in the discussion of social and ecclesiastical questions. He has been styled the “bishop of society”; but society occupied only a fraction of his time. The great bent of his energies was ceaselessly directed to the better organization of his diocese and to the furtherance of schemes for increasing the influence and efficiency of the church. In 1854 he opened a theological college at Cuddesdon, which was afterwards the subject of some controversy on account of its alleged Romanist tendencies. Wilberforce is perhaps best known today for his 1860 debate with Thomas Huxley on evolution. Wilberforce wrote a 19,000-word article for the Quartely Review of July 1860 on Charles Darwin's Origin of Species, which had been published the previous year; an article on which Darwin is said to have commented: "It is uncommonly clever; it picks out with skill all the most conjectural parts, and brings forward well all the difficulties." He debated Darwin's "bulldog," Huxley, on June 30, 1860. His opening speech, "rather than reflecting ignorance, prejudice and religious sentiment, in fact encapsulated many of the scientific objections people of his day had to Darwin’s book”."What What did Wilberforce really say to “Darwin’s bulldog”?", Creation.com. Web, Mar. 11, 2017. His attitude towards Essays and Reviews in 1861, against which he wrote an article in the Quarterly, won him the special gratitude of the Low Church party, and latterly he enjoyed the full confidence and esteem of all except the extreme men of either side and party. On the publication of J.W. Colenso's Commentary on the Romans in 1861, Wilberforce endeavoured to induce the author to hold a private conference with him; but after the publication of the first 2 parts of the Pentateuch Critically Examined he drew up the address of the bishops which called on Colenso to resign his bishopric. In 1867 he framed the first Report of the Ritualistic Commission, in which coercive measures against ritualism were discountenanced by the use of the word “restrain” instead of “abolish” or “prohibit.” He also endeavoured to take the sting out of some resolutions of the second Ritualistic Commission in 1868, and was one of the four who signed the Report with qualifications. Though strongly opposed to the disestablishment of the Irish Church, yet, when the constituencies decided for it, he advised that no opposition should be made to it by the House of Lords. Death After 24 years' labour in the diocese of Oxford, he was translated by Gladstone to the bishopric of Winchester. He was killed on 19 July 1873, by the shock of a fall from his horse near Dorking, Surrey. Recognition Wilberforce was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society on 18 December 1845."Randy Wayne, Charles Darwin, Samuel Wilberforce and How We See the Color of Ants," Laboratory of Natural Philosophy, CALS School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University. Web, Mar. 11, 2017. Publications Non-fiction *''The Note-book of a Country Clergyman''. London: Seeley & Burnside, 1833; New York: Harper, 1833. *''The Life of William Wilberforce'' (with Robert Wilberforce). London: John Murray, 1838; Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press, 1972. *''A History of the Protestant Episcopal Church in America''. London: J. Burns, 1844 *''A Reproof of the American Church''. New York: W. Harned, 1846. *''Heroes of Hebrew History''. London: Strahan, 1870. Juvenile *''Agathos, and other Sunday stories''. London: Seeley & Burnside, 1840. *''The Rocky Island, and other parables''. London: J. Burns, 1840 **also published as The Rocky Island, and other similitudes. London: J. Burns,1841. *''Agathos, The Rocky Island, and other Sunday stories''. London: Seeley, 1902. Edited *''A Selection of Psalms and hymns: From the new version of the Church of England, and others; corrected and revised for public worship''. London: J. Hatchard, 1810; 25th edition, London: Rivingtons, 1850? *''Eucharistica: Meditations and prayers, with select passages, on the most holy eucharist''. London: J. Burns, 1839. *Henry Martyn, Journals and Letters. London: Seeley & Burnside, 1839; New York: M.W. Dodd, 1851. *William Wilberforce, Correspondence. London: John Murray, 1840. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Samuel Wilberforce, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Mar. 11, 2017. References * . Wikisource, Web, Mar. 11, 2012. Notes External links ;Poems *"Just for Today" in A Victorian Anthology, 1837-1895 ;Books * * A list of the works of Samuel Wilberforce ;About *Samuel Wilberforce in the Encyclopædia Britannica *Wilberforce, Samuel in the Dictionary of National Biography * Original article is at Wilberforce, Samuel Category:English Anglicans Category:Bishops of Oxford Category:Bishops of Winchester Category:Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Category:Fellows of the Royal Society Category:People from London Category:1805 births Category:1873 deaths Category:Deans of Westminster Category:Archdeacons of Surrey Category:Deaths by horse-riding accident Category:Burials at Winchester Cathedral Category:Accidental deaths in England Category:Members of the Canterbury Association